Pope falls ill

Schönborn succession: decision delayed

Christoph Schönborn resigned as Archbishop of Vienna in January.

(Bild: APA/FLORIAN WIESER)

The decision as to who will succeed Cardinal Christoph Schönborn as Archbishop of Vienna is likely to be a long time coming. There are currently no indications that the seriously ill Pope Francis will appoint a successor any time soon, according to church circles. 

Schönborn's resignation was accepted by the Vatican on January 22, his 80th birthday. Since then, Josef Grünwidl has headed the archdiocese as Apostolic Administrator.

Sick pope still able to make decisions
The sick Pope is obviously still able to make decisions. He is appointing new bishops on an almost daily basis, most recently in India, as can be seen from the official "Bollettino" of the Vatican. A preliminary decision on who is eligible for the office is made by the Dicastery for Bishops, which in turn follows a three-person proposal from the nunciature in Austria, the Vatican embassy in the country.

However, if the Pope decides against a candidate or if one declines, the process starts all over again. At present, we can only speculate as to why the future of the Archdiocese of Vienna has not yet been decided. A quick decision had actually been expected in Austria and the appointment of an administrator was seen as a sign of things to come.

Government also involved
The new government, which has just been sworn in, also has an important role to play in the appointment of the new archbishop. Under the concordat, the Council of Ministers must usually give the go-ahead before the appointment is made. According to reports, this has not yet happened. The spring general assembly of the Bishops' Conference in the Archabbey of Pannonhalma in Hungary in mid-March will therefore most likely take place without a new Archbishop of Vienna.